The Maze

by Jordon Greene

  The Maze: An Extreme Horror Story

  By Jordon Greene

  Copyright © 2017 by Jordon Greene.

  Visit the author’s website at www.JordonGreene.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without prior written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews or as provided by US copyright law. Franklin/Kerr Press supports copyright and thanks you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictionally and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Franklin/Kerr Press, LLC

  349-L Copperfield Boulevard #502 | Concord, North Carolina 28025

  1.704.659.3915 | info@franklinkerr.com

  www.FranklinKerr.com

  For information about special discounts available for bulk purchases, sales promotions, fund-raising and educational needs, contact Franklin/Kerr Press Sales at 704-659-3915 or sales@franklinkerr.com.

  Edited by Chelly Peeler

  Cover & Interior design by Jordon Greene

  Printed in the United States of America

  FIRST EDITION

  ISBN-10: 0-9983913-4-4 (E-Book)

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9983913-4-2 (E-Book)

  ISBN-10: 0-9983913-3-6 (Paperback)

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9983913-3-5 (Paperback)

  Fiction: Horror

  Fiction: Thriller

  Fiction: Splatterpunk

  To Joseph Hartley

  for being a constant friend and

  the beginning of my literary journey.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  As this is my first foray into the world of extreme horror, AKA lot of blood and gore, it was great to have a number of people working with me to help fine tune and get the story ready for you. My editor, Chelly Peeler, was amazing as always. Every time she edits my work it’s crazy how much I realize I still have to learn. Thanks to Dawn White as well, my proofreader, for being there to catch what the rest of us didn’t.

  A big thanks goes out to my beta readers, the ones who dig in and read the story after I finish my initial drafts, the ones who have to deal with all the stupid errors and issues. I was glad to have David Kummer, a fellow horror author, return to beta read this story. Thanks to my friends and beta readers Amanda Jane and Kevin & Chelsea Enloe for providing me some invaluable feedback on corrections and improvements.

  Although his suggestions did end up adding about one-thousand words to an already long “short story” (some might claim it’s a novella, but I’m sticking with short story), I have to give special thanks to Chris Hollar. Chris’s suggestions led to some substantial changes that I hope and believe will provide a better and more satisfying read.

  I also want to thank Billy and Andy at Pier 51 Seafood Restaurant in Concord, NC, my writing location of choice, for not kicking me out for staying too long. Thanks to Laura, Pam, Lynn, McKenzie and Deanna for dealing with me taking up a booth for hours at a time, you all have been so gracious and kind to me.

  If you’re ever in Concord, NC don’t miss out on Pier 51, it’s the best seafood (and salad bar) around.

  1

  The old Taurus bounced over another pothole, courtesy of the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s lackluster repair schedule. To be fair, it wasn’t exactly a major roadway like HWY-17 spanning the Myrtle Beach coastline, the road they had abandoned for this backwoods adventure.

  Kayden Walker sat in the back seat, long slender legs half covered in khaki cargo shorts sprawled out on the empty space beside him, his back against the door. A set of black ear buds drowned out his parents in the front seat and their “classic” music with a steady stream of rumbling drum rolls and guitar riffs. He bobbed his head to the beat, mumbling the lyrics while he scrolled through the list of songs on his iPod. Finding his favorite Bad Omens tune, he tapped the screen and let his gaze drift up to the window and out at the passing countryside.

  He watched the leaves fall while the heavy industrial beat built in his ears. Droves of brown, yellow, orange and every shade in between blanketed the roadside and spotted the thinning branches of the forest bordering the passing road. Kayden was thankful the heater was working today. It often chose to take the day off and his dad, a diesel mechanic by trade, hadn’t yet had the time to figure out the problem.

  It was day four of the family vacation, the same vacation that got Kayden out of school one whole week every October despite his teachers' protests. With cold setting in, less people came to the coast during the autumn months and the overall cost after Labor Day made it fit within his parents’ budget better. Usually Kayden would have jumped on the opportunity to miss school, but this year was different. There was a girl back home, Mira Brooks, who Kayden was certain he couldn't be away from for more than a day. He'd spent the trip texting and Snapchatting her, and occasionally Mike, his friend since the fifth grade.

  Usually Teagan, Kayden's older brother, would be in the seat next to Kayden teasing his younger sibling and doing what older brothers do when you’re stuck in a car for hours on end. His college classes up in Boston had not been as forgiving this time, so the trip had become the first without Teagan that Kayden had ever been on.

  A small white house streaked past the opposite window, piles of leaves heaped high in the small front lawn. A street sign Kayden didn’t bother to read lapsed by and then more trees. They’d been on the road driving west out of Myrtle Beach for at least thirty minutes. Tammy, Kayden’s mom, had found mention of a seasonal maze out in Conway that claimed to be a family-friendly event that went "all out" for Halloween. The outdated website didn’t look to hold much promise. With so many attractions closed or not open until late during the off-season, the first item on their loosely arranged agenda had quickly become the maze.

  Kayden tapped the screen on his phone, switching the music off, and opened the Snapchat app. His face appeared on the screen. The sheer number of pale brown freckles on his otherwise unblotted skin gave the appearance of a mild beige complexion where little truly existed. His honey eyes and broad chin stared back at him. He held down the circle at the bottom of the screen.

  “This maze better have some cool shit, because it’s taking forever to get there,” he told the phone, letting his finger off the screen. He added the video to his Snapchat story as a hand tapped his thigh. Kayden reached up and pulled out his left earbud, meeting his mother’s glaring eyes up front.

  “Watch your language, Kayden,” Tammy chided, rose-pink lips pursed and her golden-brown eyes, with a subtle hint of green bordering the irises, bearing down on him.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Kayden frowned. He was about to put the earbud back in place, but stopped. “How much longer ‘til we get there?”

  “GPS says another six minutes.” It was his dad, Kenneth, Jr., or Ken as everyone really called him, his eyes glued to the road ahead of them. His voice boomed to the back seat. Ken wasn’t a big man exactly. He was tall and slim, a Marine in a past life, but all that beer had finally begun to award him with the beginnings of the coveted beer belly.

  “Agh!” Kayden groaned.

  “Come on, it’s not that far,” Tammy reasoned, a light southern drawl peppering her words.

  “Nothing takes this long to get to back home,” Kayden argued.

  “You’ve obviously never sat in morning traffic on seventy-seven yet,” Ken took his eyes off the road long enough to give his wife a sideways grin. “You do realize we only live like eleven mil
es from my job and sometimes it takes me just under an hour to get home from work, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Kayden shrugged. He’d never really given any thought to it. He returned his attention to his phone and sent out a text to Mira. It's taking forever to get to this damn maze. It better be good!

  A few minutes later, a mid-sized warehouse appeared up ahead off the right shoulder just as the GPS announced, “You have arrived.” It was an old structure. Rust had eaten away at the metal sheets where the angled roofline met the front facing wall. A makeshift double window, obviously installed later in the building’s history, set next to a single-entry door. A handwritten sign to the right of the door announced the Halloween Maze would be open the whole month of October.

  Ken pulled the car off the road as Kayden's phone vibrated in his hand and dinged. He felt the tires meet gravel and grind to a halt next to two other vehicles, an old Ram and a newer model Kia sedan. Kayden checked his phone, a new message from Mira.

  It’s gotta be better than sitting in Ms. T's History class.

  “All right, here we are,” Ken announced, as if his wife and son were totally blind to the fact. He looked over to Tammy, “I really hope this is more like a kiddy Halloween maze. I’m not too thrilled about having the sh—crap scared out of me.”

  Kayden rolled his eyes. It had been at his mom’s insistence that the family skip a movie for the maze; she loved the eerie and scary. Kayden couldn’t blame her. Now that he didn’t suffer from horror movie-induced nightmares anymore, he thoroughly enjoyed it, too. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d stayed up late with his mom watching scary movies that she forbade him from telling his dad she'd allowed him to watch. But he was worried it was going to be just as his dad hoped, some kiddy-sensitive maze missing all the bells and whistles of real fright.

  “Oh, you’ll be fine,” Tammy assured him with a gentle hand on his shoulder and then stepped out of the car.

  Kayden sent Mira a quick I've got to go, love you text and then pulled out the one remaining earbud still in his ear and threw the pair on the seat. He pocketed his phone and swung the door open, crunching his feet onto the gravel parking lot. Shutting the door behind him, he caught up with his dad and mom at the front of the old sedan. He eyed the new car sitting a few feet away, its gentle curves and subtle prowess a stark contrast to the rounded ends of his parents’ vehicle.

  “Come on, let’s go,” Tammy urged them, putting a hand on Ken’s back and pushing him forward.

  Kayden grinned. It wasn’t often that his dad showed signs of fear.

  Going stone-faced, Ken pushed through the front door. A bell rang, announcing their entrance and revealing a musty old room in shades of brown and grey. The floor was bare concrete, the walls covered in cheap wood paneling that peeled at the seams in places. A counter sat a few feet within, cold checkered laminate encasing the tabletop and more wood paneling bordering its edges. A tall behemoth of a man stood behind the counter.

  He looked to be in his late twenties, standing at least six feet, maybe taller, sea green eyes staring blankly at Kayden then his parents as they walked in and shut the door. He had blond hair, cut short, almost buzzed, and a set of broad muscular shoulders hid under a shirt that was a bit too small for him. A trivial scowl that he didn't bother to mask marked his lips, like he wasn't happy they'd barged in to this attraction during his shift. He didn’t say a word as Ken stepped up to the counter.

  “Uh…hello,” Ken started, awkwardly breaking the silence. He found the name badge on the man’s chest. “Jasper. We’re here for the Halloween maze.”

  “It’s five dollars per person,” Jasper blurted, his voice calm but dull. “You from out of town?”

  “Yeah, Charlotte,” Ken told him.

  That seemed to please Jasper, a hint of a smile breaking his stoic demeanor.

  “That’s good. Makes the maze more interesting when it’s all out-of-towners. No one to spoil the fun that way.”

  Kayden raised his brow at the man's curt manner as he swept his eyes around the small room. Knick-knacks were everywhere. Jack-o-lanterns, big fake spiders, ghosts and ghouls. He stopped on a young couple standing just a few feet behind him by the entry door. Kayden let the left edge of his lip curve up in a half grin. The two strangers smiled back.

  The man was tall and lanky, his forest green eyes set behind rimless spectacles below short brown hair and prominent ears. The girl seemed to be from a different world. She was short, probably five-foot-two, with a slim shapely body, nice hips, a full round buttocks in short khaki shorts. Kayden loved it when a girl cut her hair like the beauty before him. It was cut to the skin on the left side of her head, but left long, straight and blue as it draped just above her right shoulder. An inconspicuous tattoo was stamped just above her collarbone, the Batman logo.

  “Okay,” Ken replied awkwardly, pulling out his wallet and passing over the admission fee to Jasper.

  On the other side of the room, along the same counter that the unusual clerk stood behind, Kayden found a pile of tools. He wandered over while his dad was getting his change back and fingered through the items. A battery-powered nail gun, a knot of rope, thick nails, some tools Kayden didn’t recognize and a large knife that looked a lot like the old Ka-Bar his dad said he used when he was in the Marines.

  “Hey!” a thick voice boomed. It was the clerk behind the counter. “Don’t touch those.”

  “Sorry,” Kayden stepped back. “What’s all this for?”

  “They’re my tools for the maze. I never know what I’m going to need in there,” Jasper explained, reaching for the tools and placing them somewhere out of reach under the counter, eyeing Kayden suspiciously.

  "Oh, you also do upkeep for the maze?" Tammy inquired.

  "Yes, ma'am," Jasper coughed, covering his mouth, and then continued. "It's my baby. I maintain it all."

  "That's nice." She nodded.

  “Well, now that everyone's squared away, if you’re ready, you can all start the maze. Goal’s simple. Try to get out.”

  “Is there a time limit?” It was the pretty girl behind them. Kayden turned to look at her. She was attractive, but his girl Mira was even more of a looker. At the thought, he pulled out his phone and sent her another text.

  Time for this stupid maze. Wish me luck.

  “Oh, yeah. You get one hour. If you don’t get out in an hour, you have to stay.” Jasper put his hands up and wiggled his fingers, his voice raising a note but failing to deliver the eerie undertone.

  The girl grinned and nodded, as did the others.

  “And no phones,” Jasper barked, staring at Kayden who grinned back innocently. “All phones and recording devices go in this lock box. Don’t need no one spoiling the fun for others.”

  Jasper turned and inserted a key in a small grey box on a cabinet along the back wall and then put his hand out for everyone's phones. Once they were secured away, Jasper rounded the counter and stepped up to the only other door in the room. He grinned for the first time since the Walkers entered the building.

  “I’ll let you through this door, then you’ll be in a small hallway which will lead to the maze entrance. Once you’re in the hallway, I’ll shut this door and it’ll lock.”

  Kayden’s dad looked at his mom and smirked. She was glowing. Kayden glanced at the couple out of the side of his vision and their smiles told him they were excited like his mom, besides the hint of reservation in the guy’s face.

  Jasper’s grin vanished; he resumed his stoic personality as he opened the door, revealing a dimly lit hall.

  “Have fun, and see ya in hell.”

  Kayden and the others moved past Jasper and into the room. Ken's mouth gaped open slightly and he leaned closer to Tammy.

  “Is that really appropriate?” Ken commented more than asked.

  Tammy waved him off and moved down the hallway. Kayden followed, keeping close to his parents. He wasn’t a coward by a long shot, but the best way to get through a maze wasn’t
splitting up, at least according to his brain’s logic. His eyes surveyed the room. The walls were built out of simple planks from floor to ceiling and more concrete floors with two standard, flickering, florescent bulbs dangling above.

  “Hey,” the pretty girl said, stepping up beside the Walkers. “I’m Florence, and this is my husband, Oscar.”

  “Good to meet you,” Ken said, shaking Oscar’s hand. “I’m sorry. I feel so rude; we didn’t introduce ourselves out there. I’m Ken, this is my wife, Tammy, and my youngest son, Kayden.”

  “It’s okay,” Oscar assured him. He cocked an eyebrow and nodded toward the door that had just been closed behind them. “That clerk out there’s really something. Sort of creepy.”

  “Yeah, really,” Ken agreed.

  “All part of the theatrics for the maze,” Tammy said. “He’s just trying to spook us before we get in there.”

  “Exactly,” Florence agreed, nudging Oscar.

  “I guess you two are on vacation, too?” Tammy asked.

  “Yeah, well, honeymoon actually.” Oscar beamed.

  “Oh! Congrats!” Tammy almost yelled. Kayden rolled his eyes in the dark. Girls always get so excited at the thought of marriage. “That’s awesome!”

  “Congrats,” Ken echoed his wife.

  “Thanks,” the couple said, almost in unison.

  “Can we get started?” Kayden chimed in, pointing toward the door at the end of the hallway. “We’ve only got an hour to get out of here.”

  “Good point,” Oscar agreed, shaking his head with an understanding grin. “Let’s get going. I guess we should split up to cover more ground, so we’ll see you at the end.”

  “Sounds good,” Tammy nodded before Ken could speak up. They closed the remaining yards to the next door and Ken grasped the knob and opened it.